Organizational Psychology: Analyzing Organizational Behavior and Structure at British Airways

This report analyzes the organizational behavior and structure at British Airways, focusing on factors like motivation, cultural diversity, and organizational culture. It also discusses the impact of stress and change management on employees.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Organizational Psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive summary
The following report has highlighted many crucial factors about organizational psychology. The
organization that has been taken for research is British Airways. It is one of the biggest
organizations in the airlines industry. The brief overview about the organization’s background
has been given here. Some important factors like organizational behavior and organizational
structure have been analyzed. The need for motivating employees for bringing improvements in
the organization has been discussed. Therefore, it will be better to follow some strategies that
will strengthen the morale of employees. This has been analyzed by theoretical frameworks for
better understanding. So, it is clear that British Airways will have to apply some strategies that
will keep up the employees focused to their work. Apart from that, organizational culture of BA
and their tactics to handle cultural diversity have been highlighted as well. The importance of
social identity in its approach towards employees has been described. The issue of change
management and impact of stress on the employees has been developed. The ways BA can
handle this pressure situation is recommended.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background of the organization.......................................................................................................4
Organizational psychology and structure........................................................................................4
Motivation of employees within British Airways...........................................................................5
Theory of motivation by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs...................................................................6
Cultural diversity issues within organization..................................................................................8
Organizational culture and structure................................................................................................9
Social identity and work behavior.................................................................................................10
Organizational change and impact of stress management.............................................................11
Evaluation......................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Reference List................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
The purpose of the following report is to analyze the organizational behavior in the
companies. The organizations in the contemporary times are facing many challenges and barriers
for both the managers and employees since cultural diversity works as the biggest part in this
scenario. The organizational psychology has to be practiced by almost every organization so they
can get rid of several internal challenges (Robbins & Judge, 2012).
In order to benefit from their business, all organizations will need to consider some
internal things that are posed as barriers for them. In this scenario, the chosen organization for
this paper is British Airways. It is one of the biggest organizations in UK that works in the
aviation sector. In this paper, some important factors will be discussed regarding organizational
behavior and psychology of the company (Robbins & Judge, 2012). The motivation for
employees and working behavior of employees will be a very crucial factor for the organization
amidst contemporary challenges; Cultural diversity is posed as one of the biggest challenges in
the business industry for almost all sectors.
Therefore, managers of British Airways will have to be very cautious when they deal
with employees originating from different cultural backgrounds. The chosen company British
Airways’ organizational culture, structure and necessary changes for inner development will be
discussed as well. Some theories will be linked that are associated with the organizational
psychology, work motivation and organizational changes (Jones, 2013). Management of stress
will also be one of the most important factors for the understanding different issues within the
company. The change within the organization is a very important part for British Airways.

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Background of the organization
British Airways is one of the most important and second largest airlines in the aviation
industry in United Kingdom (Britishairways.com, 2019). The company was established in the
year 1974. This is the second largest airlines company in terms of size of fleet and passenger
accommodations. There two hubs for this company in UK- one in Gatwick Airport and one in
Heathrow Airport (Britishairways.com, 2019). The fleet size of this company is 276 and it flies
to more than 183 destinations. The headquarters of the organization is located at Harmondsworth
in United Kingdom. The Chairman and CEO of the company is Alex Cruz. The slogan of the
company is To Fly, To Serve (Britishairways.com, 2019).
Organizational psychology and structure
The organizational structure of British Airways is fat type. The company has one level of
hierarchical structure. This structure of the company has made separations between top level
officers like CEO and Directors and bottom level employees like ground staff. There are several
types of departments that exist in this organization (Robbins & Judge, 2012). These are Flight
Operations, Engineering, planning, Information Technology, Alliance and Investments, Legal
team, Finance, Human Resource department and Ground Operations. British Airways has been
planning to generate higher profits (Miner, 2015).
If this has to happen, they should opt to make calculations on how their customers are
increasing within United Kingdom. The core competencies in the company should be developed
so they can gain the trust of their customers (Büschgens, Bausch & Balkin, 2013). Before that,
they should earn the trust of their employees. It can be done only if they implement proper

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human resource strategies within proper payment and incentive structure, encouraging their
employees to work harder and setting up a good organizational culture (Miner, 2015).
There are certain things that should be practiced within this organization. Some changes
can be implemented within this organization so employees can be motivation. There are some
theoretical models that should be included to understand how organizational changes could come
within British Airways. One of these theories is Evolutionary theory. This theory is modeled on
the issue of competition within their industry. Critics have already showed through their studies
that airline industry has been going through immense competition (Büschgens, Bausch & Balkin,
2013). According to this theoretical framework, British Airways must make some changes
because they have to look after the well-being of their employees, immediate business society
and communities. Major stakeholders belong to these communities of British Airways (Haslam
et al., 2014).
Motivation of employees within British Airways
The company British Airways always provides the best opportunities for their employees
to work with difficult situations and come out with flying colors. In this context, they provide
several privileges and facilities to employees (Miner, 2015). The company works with a talent
pool and they are the main people who use to contribute to company’s benefits. Their
uncompromising efforts to help British Airways to steer through every difficulty are regarded as
very important. British Airways needs more support from their employees to survive in this ever
changing industry (Huczynski, Buchanan & Huczynski, 2013). Therefore, it would be of
immense importance to take proper steps so employees could be motivated. Many benefits to
employees are provided in this scenario. Employees look up to their own well-being and it is the

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responsibility of the company to provide both monetary and professional benefits to their
employees (Jones, 2013).
In order to improve the performance of their employees, British Airways has always
catered to give them good incentives for their work (Huczynski, Buchanan & Huczynski, 2013).
The implementation of process theory is of high importance in this manner. According to this
theory, employees would be highly motivated to work very hard because of incentives, be it
financial or non-financial. Employees are also encouraged by better training facilities so they can
enhance their skills and knowledge (Hogan & Coote, 2014). If the company offers them with
financial cash bonus, they will like to spend more time in their offices and deliver more services
at the time of company’s need. They also give their employees with non-financial rewards like
‘Employee of the Month’ or ‘Best Performer of the Month’. Most employees are motivated by
these sorts of things within their organization. Employees of British Airways get to increase their
personal and professional developments since they can improve their skills on a higher level
(Büschgens, Bausch & Balkin, 2013).
Some of the other facilities that can motivate employees in British Airways are bonuses
or incentives, pension plans for retired employees, discounts on flights on vacations, paid
holidays, life insurance policies, opportunities for further career development, dining facilities
with their beloved families, subsidiary amounts for their children’s education, extended leaves on
account of festivals or physical ailments and others (Hogan & Coote, 2014).
Theory of motivation by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is one of the most crucial theories for a big company like
British Airways. They will have to take many steps that will create influence on the employees

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and cater for the betterments of the organization (Awadh & Saad, 2013). This theory can be
applied in cases where people work and need motivation for performing better. In this theory,
some aspects have been described where the employees will have to deal with certain things that
will be needed for them in order to solve conflicts within the organization (Haslam et al., 2014).
Many employees have some needs that are not fulfilled by their managers or workplace
environments. These things are important reasons for the rise of conflicts. In this theory, five
different sections are highlighted on the basis of the pyramid structure of this theory. These are
social needs, psychological needs, safety needs, self-esteem and self-actualization (Awadh &
Saad, 2013). These things are necessary to carry on the operations within British Airways.
British Airways employees are treated with love and affection and this satisfies their social
needs. This is why they do not have much complaint regarding their job satisfaction. Employees
are valued and they self-actualize this while working for the company (Dobre, 2013).
British Airways has been giving opportunities to their employees on handling different
challenging jobs. In this concern, they get to enhance their skills and capabilities. They are given
proper training so they can overcome all difficulties. Safety needs for employees are also looked
after through introduction of pension plans. Retired employees will get pensions and this will
safeguard their futures (Shockley-Zalabak, 2014). All psychological needs of employees are also
fulfilled as employees get to work in proper working environment within the organization.
British Airways helps their employees to develop as a group through interactions between team
members. This motivates them since teamwork is a must in this organization (Dobre, 2013).
Employees also get to maintain their self-esteem as they are given reputable job titles and
positions where they can opt to give feedbacks on their job positions. British Airways also looks

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to arrange some cultural programs for their employees on the eve of some festivals. This works
as a refreshment from tight work schedules (Saks & Gruman, 2014).
Cultural diversity issues within organization
Diversity has always been one of the most crucial factors for the success of British
Airways. Managers have toiled hard so they can overcome conflicts that arise from cultural
differences. Employees of the company belong to several communities and their ethnicities are
different as well (Saks & Gruman, 2014). In this context, employees will look to work in an
environment where they can feel safe. In many companies, racial abuses and gender
discriminations are quite common.
On the other hand, British Airways is very much cautious about maintain cultural union
among employees of different communities (Cohen, 2017). Their languages might be different
but they like to work together and achieve all business goals of the company. In this context,
British Airways have taken up some welfare programs that will cater to increase mutual
understanding between these employees (Shockley-Zalabak, 2014). They have not encouraged
employee diversity and attempted to create an environment where employees can feel free and
express themselves. This is why they have become one of the most successful companies in
United Kingdom (Cohen, 2017).
They inspire their employees of different communities to work collaboratively. They go
on to work together and meet all needs of their customers together (Lăzăroiu, 2015). The
business managers of British Airways have always exclaimed their stance on valuing the
emotions and behaviors of their employees so they can get their services on time from their

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employees and deliver it to their customers. If any employees is a victim of gender or racial
abuse they are free to raise their voices in front of the management (Lăzăroiu, 2015).
In fact, they have achieved several awards for their position in tackling workplace
diversity (Manzoor, 2012). Managers are always free to work with people from different
backgrounds, cultures and religions. They believe this will send a positive message to their
customers and other stakeholders. This is how they can make their name big in their quest to
become one of the leading organizations in airlines industry (Hogg, 2016).
Organizational culture and structure
The structure of hierarchy of British Airways has always been discussed in previous
sections of this paper (Lewis, 2019). Employees will have to abide by this division within the
organization. However, the communication standards will have to be improved because there is a
large gap between top level executives and bottom level employees of the company. The
organizational culture of British Airways will have to be strengthened to earn the trust and
respect of their employees (Manzoor, 2012).
This corporate culture in the British Airways has provided satisfaction to their
employees. This is why employees should also contribute in securing a good culture and
communicating properly with their stakeholders (Naile & Selesho, 2014). Only this will make
their customers happy. This culture has worked as the measure for long term success of the
organization in different ways. The organizational managers in British Airways have opted for
some set of tools that will quality management (Hogg, 2016). Therefore, the primary target of the
organization will be to set up a proper culture that will assure customer satisfaction. Some
structural changes become necessary when they will have to upgrade their services. If they want

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to achieve higher benefits in the competition market in the international perspective, they will
surely have to managing strategic implications (Naile & Selesho, 2014).
British Airways uses social media tools for engaging in communication with their
customers. This satisfies their customers to a large extent. In turn, they also give feedback forms
to their customers to make sure that everything is going well and they are quite happy with the
services of British Airways (Cherry, 2014). They run their business by building up a relationship
of trust and faith with their workers. They increase their participation in corporate social
responsibility to win hearts of their customers. They also do not inflict their decisions on their
employees from their leadership perspectives as this can evidently destroy employee morale
(Ferdman & Deane, 2014).
Social identity and work behavior
The performance of the employees can be shaped by the initiatives of the organizational
behavior. Customers and other stakeholders have become tired of the different stereotypical
approaches from the organizational leaders. The social identity theory has been very evident for
people to identify how psychological well being can positively effect in the organizational
contexts (Cherry, 2014). It has to be remembered that employees in British Airways can only
perform at their best and deliver their services on time if they are psychologically well placed.
The psychological condition of the employee or individuals will have to be analyzed
properly so better recommendations can be given on how to make improvements in their
organizational performance (Datta, 2014). This theory will give an insight on how individuals
can achieve psychological satisfaction for their benefits. This will be helpful for their long term
success in the organization like British Airways. The Group engagement model has been

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regarded as one of the basic theories that will critically analyze engagement of individuals with
their teams, groups and organizations.
British Airways will look to provide their employees with psychological satisfaction so
their working behavior can be aligned with the business objectives of the organization (Datta,
2014). The employees of British Airways would be able to gain a better social identity by the
work he or she completes. They will be able to gain their self-definition of their identity and
perceive better opportunities in front of them (Lewis, 2019). If a ground employee of British
Airways aspires to become a higher level manager of the company, he or she might have to pass
many tough struggles with optimistic attitudes. This is how they can succeed in their roles.
Organizational change and impact of stress management
Organizational change is one of the central characteristics of the companies to get the
ultimate success and survive in the competitive business environment. British Airways has also
implemented several changes in several contexts. This has been done to ensure that all the
complications within the organization are resolved (Martin, 2014). The organization has to be
ready to understand that these initiatives for change will have large scale implications on
requirements from both their employees and customers. During the middle oil crisis, British
Airways had gone through the loss curve British Airways was overstaffed and their service
delivery was very poor as well (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015).
Later on, the company had to be privatized to cover up their losses. The reputation of the
company went from bad to worse and they wanted to come out by making necessary changes in
their organizational culture. The hierarchical management system created differences in their
status. This was seen from their uniforms as well. The customers were not satisfied by their

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management approach. So, they had to change their tactics to deal with their customers (Martin,
2014).
Employees sometimes feel stress on themselves because of immense pressure in meeting
the objectives for the company. In this scenario, British Airways has also begun Employees
Assistance Program that will motivate the employees for their welfare. The provision of welfare
programs and helping them in times of need are important steps to keep their employees
motivated and free of stress (Ferdman & Deane, 2014). If they can get over their stress, they
would be able to inspire other members of the organization. The proper transitions in the
organization should take place and employees of British Airways could perform better in fresh
mind.
Evaluation
This paper can be evaluated by stating that British Airways has gone through many ups
and downs throughout its history. The organization has suffered many setbacks and problems in
its history because of its issues in change management strategies. The organization has been able
to get rid of these problems by applying some theories related to change management and
ensuring the well being of all their employees. Employees of British Airways are valued and
their beliefs are given due respect by the management (Anderson, 2016).
Cultural diversity in the organization has a huge role to play in its success. It can be also
stated that British Airways will have to deal with many difficult times if they cannot cope up
with problems regarding their status differences between hierarchy of management and bottom
level employees (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). Therefore, they have to follow some strict

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rules that will establish proper communication between different departments and all levels of
employees.
Proper communication between employees and managers will clear all
misunderstandings and pave the way for becoming one of the best airlines organizations in the
industry (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The stress of employees should be reduced so they
can work happily and focus on their accomplishments. Positive contributions from everyone will
effectively lead British Airways towards achieving their business objectives.
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said that British Airways has been trying tirelessly to
achieve their business goals within airlines industry. It has been observed that competition within
airlines industry is huge. It is because new players in this industry are emerging and BA will
have to implement their strategies properly to stay ahead of their competitors. The organizational
structure of the company is somewhat disorganized and they should make up for this by bringing
in changes among their structure. A proper organizational culture will surely be helpful for BA to
engage in forming social identities for their employees. Some important theories have been used
in this paper to identify the factors regarding organizational behavior. The organizational
psychology of BA has been discussed in this paper that will have to be reviewed by their
management. Only then the organization can perform to their expectations.

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